Becoming the GO – TO Expert

Have you ever watched a so called expert doing a TV interview and thought “That guy or lady has no idea what he is talking about; they should be interviewing me instead” You are 100 % correct, they should be interviewing you. I want to share some valuable tips with you in this article, to support you to make just that happen.

Becoming a sought after expert

It is not as difficult as it at first seems, to become a sought after expert. The advantage of becoming that sought after expert is that doors will begin to fly open for you when you do. The media will begin to seek your opinion, business leaders will pay to hear your wisdom and you will become the go to person in your specific area of expertise. 

Overcoming the Three Expert Myths

Myth 1

You have to have a formal education with a master’s degree or a doctorate behind your name, to be classed as an expert. The truth is that tons of experts in virtually every field do not have any formal qualifications at all. Your own expert star will rise, based on the results you manage to create, not on where you went to school or the size of your formal education. 

Myth 2

You have to be present to act as an expert. The development of new technologies, such as webinars, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, can very quickly cement your expert status across time zones. The new trend, when assessing someone’s status as an expert, is often assessed by the size of their social media following. As your social media following grows, so too does your status as an expert.

Myth 3

You have to write and get your book published by a traditional publishing house to be regarded as an expert. This may have been true 30 years ago, but things have changed a lot since then. Look at your own circumstances. When last did you buy a book and read it cover to cover? I am certain that most authors would gladly trade their book rights, for a list of email addresses of 50 000 people, who want exactly what their message delivers. A person with a list of eager people, who want to hear their message, have access to an incredible amount of potential customers.

When you can debunk these three myths, you are in a position to start building your own status as an expert in your chosen field. The development of new technologies has made becoming an expert, easier and faster than ever before. 

Action Idea: Follow these few steps listed below and you too can become regarded as an expert in your chosen field.

Study what the masters, who have gone before have said. This is the toughest part of travelling the road towards becoming a master. It is the part of the process, where most of the heavy lifting is done. The more effort you put into this, the better equipped you will be to formulate your own opinion. This is where you learn the intricacies of your chosen topic and develop a general understanding around your chosen area of expertise. So when someone, quotes someone else’s work, trying to trip you up. You are equipped to answer them in an insightful way and even punt your own eLearning courses at the same time.

Find a challenge or opportunity, where you have a different opinion to others. To be recognised as an expert, requires you to have a very strong opinion, which is backed up by facts. Contrarian views always seem to get the most attention. Dare to stand out from the crowd, with a strong opinion. The challenge here is to not be contrarian for the sake of being controversial. Always be certain that you can back your view up with solid evidence or facts. Keep your opinion focused on helping and supporting people to solve urgent challenges and always looking for ways to add value to them. 

Constantly Test your Opinion. Keep refining and honing your opinion, by studying the results you are able to achieve. Keep repeating this, until you are able to test your opinion in many different situations. Once you have repeated this many times, you will become passionate and very confident with your opinion. This constant testing will allow you to refine and even change your opinion, if necessary. 

Get a megaphone. You cannot become the go-to expert, until people know you exist. Start building your network, through trade associations, the local media and social media. All three of these will put you in front of the people you are trying to reach. 

Action Idea: 

·         Engage with trade associations by offering to write articles for them, presenting a webinar or presenting a mini workshop at one of their meetings. The more energy and buzz, you can build around yourself and your work, the sooner you will be asked to be the expert you have become.

·         A similar approach will work with traditional and social media. Be engaging and give people something new to talk about and they will run with it.

Call yourself an expert. The sooner you start to call yourself an expert; the sooner people will sit up and take notice. There is no better way of getting people to recognise you as an expert than, self-proclamation. The secret though is to first ensure that you deserve the title first. Remember that you have studied the field extensively, you have tested your opinion, shared it in writing and in public places. Once you have started referring to yourself as an expert, so will everyone else too. The difference between an expert who charges $ 5000 and one who charges $ 25 000, is seldom more than simple perception. Build the perception around your expertise and you too will become the GO TO EXPERT, who will be earning the big fees.

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